Rise of IS in India

Though war against terrorism was not able to completely remove Al-Qaeda footprints from South Asia many new groups have emerged in place of old ones with new ideologies and new ways to create terror. One of such non-state actor group is IS which in the past few years have created terror through their so-called Islamic ideology and after trying to have their hold in few Middle Eastern countries are now moving towards South Asian region.
IS is considered as an off-shoot of Al-Qaeda with an objective to establish Khilafat and they are considered ruthless in their acts in order to establish their ideology. Several studies and research have indicated that ISIS after holding grounds in Syria and Iraq have moved partially to Afghanistan and establishing their estates in Afghanistan and India. In Afghanistan it was easy for IS or more commonly called this organization Daesh to gain popularity as the area was already war-torn and Taliban were looking for some sort of new sanctuary which this organization provided them. Interestingly Daesh is not only having sympathizers in Afghanistan who want to follow and show allegiance to IS but several studies and research is now showing that great number of people in India are getting inspiration from IS because of their radical approach. Indian extremism towards people living inside India is now becoming fashion and hard core Hindus consider it their religious duty to make life of ordinary man and followers of other religions miserable.
Extremists regime in India is facilitating secret ascend of Daesh. Both IS and Hindu extremists share similar fundamental dogmas and enthralment of bloodshed and genocide. They are in covert collaboration with each other to ingress destabilization and generate conflict in entire South Asian region. Therefore, a threatening and secret alliance exists based on similar agendas of eradication of Islamic civilization from South Asia keeping the already depressed Indian population in constant fear and away from failures of domestic socio-economic policies and bashing Pakistan as creator and hot bed of terrorism.
Off late, a EU based, research institution named Conflict Armament Research, undertook a 20-month exhaustive study on Daesh weapon supply chain. The study revealed that seven Indian companies are involved in provision of over 700 components used in manufacturing of lEDs by Daesh. India is the second largest supplier of lethal material needed for fabrication of deadly IEDs for Daesh. According to the study, Seven Indian companies manufactured most of the detonators, detonating cord and safety fuses. These components are crucial to manufacturing of IEDs and are being legally exported under government which issued licenses from India to entities in Lebanon and Turkey.
These findings support growing international awareness that IS forces in Iraq and Syria are very much self-sustaining, acquiring weapons and strategic goods without any difficulty. India’s role in supporting Daesh with lethal IEDs parts that too with the tacit approval of Government has raised eyebrows world over. This role of India is highly denouncing and international community should take notice of it. Recently, State Department to US Embassy in India has issued an imminent threat of Daesh attack on staff members and US citizens but Indian establishment is negating all such threats. Thinking rationally the Indian mind-set which has habit of blame game on Pakistan there is a possibility that if India itself carries out such attack or support any violent act covertly, they can cunningly stage Daesh attack against American interests in India to implicate Pakistan and to justify oppression against Indian Muslims. Therefore, the need of the hour is that Muslims of South Asia should be equally cautioned about Hindu extremists and terrorist groups like Daesh.
Last year in December 2016, an IS fighter was arrested who was planning to attack Indian consulate in Jalalabad and Indian officials without any proof said that they believe Pakistani links for propping up the militant group’s operations in Afghanistan. Yet again the Indian side was unable to bring evidence and blamed Pakistan for raising such extremist ideologies. Pakistan definitely has tackled this menace of terrorism successfully and worldwide its efforts are admired. It is time for India to revise its approach towards state terrorism it is carrying out for past many decades in Kashmir and also the issues of extremism within India which can breed easily in presence of IS because of same radicalistic approach.
— The writer works for Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, a think tank based in Islamabad.
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